- Today's Word
Desultory
DES-ul-tor-ee
Definition
(adjective) Lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm; moving randomly from one thing to another; disconnected and unfocused.
Example
His desultory approach to studying — flipping between subjects every few minutes, never finishing a single chapter — left him unprepared when exam day finally arrived.
Word Origin
Desultory comes from the Latin desultorius, meaning “relating to a desultor” — a circus performer who would leap from horse to horse during a race without committing to any single one. The root desilire means “to leap down,” from de- (“down”) and salire (“to jump”). By the 16th century, English had borrowed the word to describe anything that jumps erratically from subject to subject without purpose or commitment.
Fun Fact
The Roman desultor was a highly skilled equestrian performer who would ride two horses simultaneously in a race, leaping between them at full gallop. Far from being unfocused, these riders were considered elite athletes — making it somewhat ironic that their name eventually came to describe aimless, scattered behavior. The linguistic leap from “daring acrobat” to “person who can’t stay on task” happened gradually as writers began using the image of constantly switching horses as a metaphor for lack of commitment.